Nature has millions of intervowen interrelationships among the numerous flora and fauna. Such relationships are the basis for the food webs and food pyramids. These food webs and pyramids can give us a broad idea that organisms interact with each other for their food, shelter and mating. Each specific interrelationship if studied in depth can be very interesting and brings to light significant facts of our sorroundings and the importance of each and every living being on this earth and its function in sustaining the ecological processes. In fact if the entire nature is considered one machine, each and every living being has its own role in smooth running of this machine. But knowingly and unknowingly, we have not taken care or forced to destroy such interrelationships in the path of ‘development’.
While we talk of big things like “Global warming,” “Green House Gases” and such other impending disasters, we are doing little precious either in understanding these interrelationships or our scientific community has not been able to keep pace with the enormity and complexity of ecological relationships.
Even if the world is protected from global warming, can the man and his domesticated crops and animals survive with out the aid of other living beings on this earth? Can the nature sustain such loss of vast number of living beings and even then sustain human living on this earth? Of course not! This is known to every one…everyone in the sense the ecologists and environmentalists on board of scientific institutions and administration and the thinktank behind governments. We cannot expect the politicians to understand such complex science, and neither do they have time to spare an ear. Therefore it is the responsibility of the scientific community to take up such issues and suggest possible remedial actions and incessantly pursue for implementation. They are also duty bound to prevent vested interests who try to hijack the issue for their own selfish ends or satisfy their proffessional egos.
Just as politicians, a lay man (representing the vast majority of the general public) is not expected to know, appreciate or support such causes. Hence once again its is the duty of scientific community, to mobilise public opinion and break all the barriers in implementing conservation measures in every part of the world both in micro and macro scales. Conservation has to be localised instead of conserving things of one continent in the other continent or one country’s in the other.
The awareness levels about ecology or nature conservation are at a such a dangerous low, that many people term even zoological parks as as conservation centers! And we know how these parks are maintained in many developing and poor countries!
Lastly conservation programmes should not be seen as programs of wasteful expenditure, but should be seen as a life insurance premium for our own survival!
Ravikumar Uppaluri hails from Kaikalur, Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh State in India. The famous Kolleru bird sancturay, a fresh water lake that attracts birds from as far as Siberia, is located near Kaikalur. Kolleru lake once vast, beautiful and sheltering scores of birds and other animals is on the verge of extinction.
The author Holds a Masters degree in Agricultural Sciences and is cofounder of an organization involved in Nature conservation and sustainable development. The author can be reached at uravikumar@yahoo.com
Visit http://www.geocities.com/uravikumar for more information on Kolleru lake.